This is the Official 2018-2019 Ice-in Thread. Please post your comments about this year's Ice-in here. The air temperatures are falling and a few coves are freezing so it is time to begin our annual discussion. ( A tad early!)

It is typically 33-35 degrees at the Weirs when the broads skims over. The Lake temperature reported by the Winnipesaukee Dataphone is 41 degrees. (12-23-2018) The unseasonable cold may start ice-in early. A year ago the lake temperature was nearly 46 degrees. We hope the lake level will go down considerably before the lake freezes. It has dropped a little over two inches in the last few days as the output at Lakeport increased.

The Ice-in page is live at www.rattlesnakecam.com/watch.htm. If you have a webcam or know of one, please post the information in this thread and I will add it to the page. If you have a webcam that I have in the defunct section of the ice in page, please post here if it will be coming back at some point.

For those of us who are addicted to watching the lake freeze, enjoy. If you are new to the lake, come back often and watch the progress of Ice-in!

Please visit this thread for the latest news and the Ice-in page for current images of the freezing progress. (Please click on the ads at webcam sites and support the sponsors. This provides revenue to keep the cams alive)

As always Please post your pics of the freezing lake here.

See you on the ice!
IG

__________________Island Girl

....... Make Lemonade

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According to folks at West Alton, the marina basin was iced in on November 17th, 2018. It has probably lost most if not all of that ice by now, but it did already freeze. Much to my chagrin, since I wanted to launch that day. 😡

According to folks at West Alton, the marina basin was iced in on November 17th, 2018. It has probably lost most if not all of that ice by now, but it did already freeze. Much to my chagrin, since I wanted to launch that day.

I was at Minge Cove yesterday and it was still iced in. Ice was 2” thick in the marina (it was melting a little though). The channel was mostly clear.

I was the last boat still in the water there and it was not an easy task to get out of the marina. Flat battery, frozen bilge pump and I now know what piloting an icebreaker is like.

Not my best idea and I’ll never leave it so late to close again. Lifting a dock when the decking is frozen to the frame is no fun and the steep rattlesnake ramp is especially fun when covered in snow and ice.

Took my last trip out to BI yesterday, brisk 17 degree NW wind - entire NW shore line of bear is encased in ice. Water temp on the fish finder was reading 36 degrees. Even the markers had a nice ring of ice around the base.

Didn't stay out long anywhere the water was splashing it was flash freezing.

Can't imagine if this keeps up the ice will form pretty quickly. Sadly I think the boat will get winterized today!

Maxum-
I am curious (and a bit jealous) about your setup, to be able to access an island this late in the season.
I assume you have a permanent dock on the island, but how to you keep the mainland ice free this late? I launch out of West Alton to get to our island and they were frozen solid three weeks ago.

Maxum-
I am curious (and a bit jealous) about your setup, to be able to access an island this late in the season.
I assume you have a permanent dock on the island, but how to you keep the mainland ice free this late? I launch out of West Alton to get to our island and they were frozen solid three weeks ago.

Thx

I believe he comes out of Shep's which is usually open late. Glendale should still be open and not that far of a ride either. I use it for late season runs, as Gilford Yacht Club has been locked up for a few weeks.

Maxum-
I am curious (and a bit jealous) about your setup, to be able to access an island this late in the season.
I assume you have a permanent dock on the island, but how to you keep the mainland ice free this late? I launch out of West Alton to get to our island and they were frozen solid three weeks ago.

Thx

No permanent dock, I have a seasonal dock that I typically pull mid to late September. From there it's a matter of scrapping for a parking spot. My neighbors have a crank up setups so they pull theirs up pretty late. It's a trade off they usually use mine in the spring cause I get mine in first, at least enough sections to tie the boat up to. This time of year everyone has their docks out so I just park at the BI post office dock and hike in from there.

Far as on the mainland.... the launch at Sheps was wide open and that's pretty typical even in the winter. Several of the island service crews leave their barges in the water there over the winter. The nice thing about this time of year, plenty of parking and no waiting to pop the boat in or out of the water.

Next trip out will be over the ice pending reliable conditions. Crossing my fingers it may be some time in early to mid January. We shall see!

From Shep Brown's to the big busy passage between Dolly and Horse Island to the south is almost all open water, totally empty of ice except for one 100-yard stretch just to the north of the Cattle Landing town dock, and it looks like a barge passed through it, leaving a wake of broken ice, sort of like an icy zipper.

Absolutely no problem what-so-ever for an Alumacraft with a 40-hp ..... yada-yada .....will slice straight through it, tomorrow ...... amen!

And, almost no ice at the Shep Brown ramp ...... to bring a bucket of traction sand and ice chopper is good move ... chop chop chop.

Lake Wentworth has been frozen for about ten days after skimming over and melting a few times. Average thickness measured yesterday at several locations 8"-9". Smooth as glass, have seen a number of skaters.

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Along the un-named passage between Bear Island and Meredith Neck, from Pine Island to Horse Island, the ice has already froze up, and thawed out, in the last 7-days ..... there was ice-in .... there was ice-out.

Last Friday a number of big construction barges settled in at Lovejoy Sands town docks for the duration with ice-in happening at that time. Now, six days later, all that big mass of ice is open water, and there's a couple motorboats out and about.

Have yet to see any barges back out, but one thing is for sure, making money is a big, big motivator ...... to get back to the job ..... out there.

It looks like maybe the Island Service Co done got a new, used propeller driven aluminum jon boat, air boat for traveling over the frozen lake. This one is a little smaller, has a Sunbrella, all around enclosure, and the huge v8 engine actually has two exhausts with mufflers to make it less unbelievably noisy. The whole danged lake, ice and everything, would shake with the last year's old, super noisy, ice boat.

Incredible winds of the past few days opened up areas that had been frozen, and with 50+ degree temps in the forecast, along with flooding rains, I expect ice-in will be heading in the wrong direction for a bit.

Barring extremes in the weather, I'd expect a relatively normal ice-in date. Namely sometime in the first few weeks of January.

Three days ago, I was down at the town docks boat ramp, at the big Meredith intersection, pounding away on the ice with a heavy ice chopper, looking to see if getting my boat out there was doable ……. and all that ice was thick and strong, maybe 3" thick and way too tough for ice chopping.

Now, it is totally all open water at the bottom of Meredith Bay ….. the ice is all gone …..and you could launch/retrieve a boat pretty good except for a little ice on the ramp itself.

You know that ice seems to be much stronger when the air temp is 15-degrees than when it is 30-degrees. At 15-degrees, it is much more difficult to break it up with an ice chopper.

Three days ago, I was down at the town docks boat ramp, at the big Meredith intersection, pounding away on the ice with a heavy ice chopper, looking to see if getting my boat out there was doable ……. and all that ice was thick and strong, maybe 3" thick and way too tough for ice chopping.

Now, it is totally all open water at the bottom of Meredith Bay ….. the ice is all gone …..and you could launch/retrieve a boat pretty good except for a little ice on the ramp itself.

You know that ice seems to be much stronger when the air temp is 15-degrees than when it is 30-degrees. At 15-degrees, it is much more difficult to break it up with an ice chopper.

On a sunny Spring say—about two or three days before "Ice-Out", select a spot in the Lake whose depth is known—and where Ice-Out boat travel can be expected to be minimal. With the sun directly overhead, peek at the bottom between ice floes. There's a good chance you can see lake bottom detail through 40-feet of water!

Ain't no way ice-in is imminent ..... expect it to happen about January 9 .... the big work construction barges are back out making money ...... and my dock and boat lift is still in, with no worries here!

I said the above in November when this thread was started and it holds true today. The weather pattern needs to change and that is not in the cards for the next week to ten days at least.

You are correct the next 10 days don’t look very promising. Yes below freezing at night but daytime close to or above freezing. We need a good week of single digits at night and no wind to really see some significant progress.

Hey all I'm down in leavitt park / Patrician shores and on monday and tuesday the lake was locking up around my parts, extending outward from Center Harbor, but was wondering what the progress was from everyone else around the lake? There were a couple dozen people fishing in Center Harbor that's been locked up for quite awhile.

I just need safety for my snowmobiles as well some more snow which is starting to pick up.

Have been smashing up the very thin ice, all around my dock with a roof rake the last two days. Attention self: get the heck off this forum and go get that dock and boat lift outta here ...... it's now or never ..... and ice circulators and timers have become very expensive ..... not cheap! ..... hut-hut-hut ..... gotta get on it ...... do it now ..... Jan 5 & 6 ..... today and tomorrow .... or else, it's ice time.

It takes two come-a-longs, a ramp made with 10' construction 2x10's, going in and out of the cold lake about ten times, to remove dock and 450-lb boat lift ......... who me procrastinate ....... never, never, never! ..... is so much better than Naples, Florida!

About 4:15pm today, a large barge with a yellow excavator in the center, chugged down through the grey ice-slush between Timber and Mark. It was making a lot of noise grinding through the ice, moving about 1/4-mph, moving toward the open water. It sounded like what a tank battle from WWI must have sound like, slowly grinding through.

Another couple mild-ish days and then the cold settles in for a while. Pretty much on track for a typical winter with “safe” ice — defined as at least 6” of black ice, by the end of the third week of January when traveling from Shep Brown’s to Mink Island. We’ll see.....

Snow helps show where the ice has some structure to it versus where it's wet and slushy still. Ideally it'd be nice if the snow cover is light - bare exposed ice will build faster than if insulated with a thick blanket of snow.

Like you looking forward to opening up the camp for the winter in a few weeks...

Ain't no way ice-in is imminent ..... expect it to happen about January 9 .... the big work construction barges are back out making money ...... and my dock and boat lift is still in, with no worries here!

Yes, that was a very serious piece of do-it-all-by-myself dock removal, done on Sunday, and it would be, as of Tuesday, a serious piece of a frozen icy mess of a 30' dock and boat lift problem. I usually do it over three days, in three steps doing different difficult and challenging parts one day at a time. But not this year, what with old age, senility, general laziness, and leaky waders all adding up for me to keep putt'n it off until I got a-round tuit .....and, oh yes, on Sunday, January 7, the dock was seriously surrounded by a thin, sorta soft 1" ice, all around.

Hurray for those waders ..... they hit the spot .....best 99.98 I spent in a long time.

At the very outset, at about noon ...... standing out on the far end of my dock ..... a big huge sheet of wind driven ice slowly, slowly snuck in and then, all of a sudden ..... the big boat lift starts slowly moving along, toward the dock......when I wasn't look'n ...... what a shocking event! ...... it snuck up on me ..... Next thing I know, the dock is sort of folding up and twisting, and then the shore ramp falls into the lake ...... omg ... and then my next door neighbor comes out of his mega-million dollar house ..... walks to his shoreline and shouts down at me ....... "why don't you leave it in for another two months!" ...... oh well ..... at the end of the day ....about 7:30 at night, with seven hours, going up & down the steep 6' rocky embankment maybe 50-times in & out the icy water ..... I did a hell of a job with how it all went .....thanks to my Walmart waders which didn't leak even a little bit ........ because leaky waders would have made it a total no-go …. even a tiny leak makes it very cold, and very wet, very fast ……. so's ……. hip-hip-hip-hip-hip hurrah for the Walmart Hodgman $99.98 waders from the Tilton NH, Walmart!

Looking at all the five large, different, aluminum docks sections, all with big legs still attached, and the 10x10x6' 450-lb boat lift, all sitting in the side yard there, it makes me scratch my head and wonder how I do it? Using two come-a-longs and a ten foot wood ramp, built with three 2x10"x10's and two 2x4"x10's all held together with three 3 1/2"/ outside deck screws per/meet-up, I manage to inch these big bulky items up and out, across a rough, rocky, 6' high, steep, embankment with the two come-a-longs. And, for a really good come-a-long, go to the ServiceStar Hdwe in Lakeport, and get a Maasdam Powr-Pull, which is a much better come-along than what you get at Walmart or Lowe's. By the end of the day, lever'n all this stuff up and out, my right arm and wrist were ready to fall off .... very sore!

And, all things considered, probably a Powr-Pull is a better, more descriptive name for these devices than a come-a-long, plus the Powr-Pull is definitely more powerful, better quality, easier to use, and it costs more, about $50 vs the $28 big-box item.

In my not so humble opinion, I do believe I deserve the Presidential Medal for Dock Removal ...... except, not from this president ....... and thank you very very much!

....and that life saving flotation belt, enuf to keep you floating pretty good: just a $3 foam noodle, with a line threaded down through the long, center hole, and worn as a waist belt, underneath an outer coat will keep you floating, let you relax, gather your strength, and get up and out of the water .... up onto the ice ..... only to have you break through the ice again .... and again ... and again .... etcetera .... and again

Drowning in 34-degree water can actually happen in 30-60 seconds of panicked chaos, because the initial plunge into ice cold water can shock you cold ..... enuf to open your mouth and gasp big, and inhale enough water to mess you up in a relatively quiet, coughing and drowning fit ..... for lack of a noodle belt.

__________________
Down & out, livn that Walmart side of the lake!

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Today's January 17 Laconia Daily Sun has a report that a 62-year old Tilton man drowned in the Winnipesaukee River, sometime between Monday, January 7 to January 11. His body was found at the Clement Dam in Tilton on Friday, January 11.

Today's January 17 Laconia Daily Sun has a report that a 62-year old Tilton man drowned in the Winnipesaukee River, sometime between Monday, January 7 to January 11. His body was found at the Clement Dam in Tilton on Friday, January 11.

Does anyone create any type of ice map every year of the lake depicting thicknesses? We've owned our place on Sleeper for 3 years now and haven't ventured out in the winter, but I really want to. I obviously want to make sure the route I take is more than sufficient for travel by snowshoe. My wife is extremely nervous, so any additional backup information such as data on ice thickness would help my cause.

With regard to the Winnipesaukee River, it is entirely possible the flow is very slow, and the river has iced over, or partially frozen along the sides, so someone could walk out onto the frozen river for fishing or something?

Good way to educate yourself about the ice is to drill holes with a hand-held ice auger. Something like an Eskimo brand 6" diameter, costs about $50: when sharp it easily goes through the ice as thick as up to 18", plus is much less weight than a gasoline auger. You make a measuring tool with either a wood ruler or yardstick, and attach a short corner angle to the ruler, so it can measure the drilled hole by hooking onto the bottom of the hole.

It takes about 45-seconds to drill through five inches of ice with a hand-held 6" diameter auger.

What is really nerve racking is drilling a hole, and immediately seeing the ice to be only 2" thick ..... oopsie .... that was a big scary surprise! Ice is much stronger after a couple days of deep freeze temps, and also loses strength with warmer temps.

It sort of turns an ice trip into an expedition or a learning experience or something.

Plus drilling the holes show you the quality, and condition of the ice, plus when returning, you follow the holes back to shore .... and wonder ...... so, why I do this winter ice walk anyway ..... is just a lot of ice, floating top the 34-degree, icy cold, lake water. Most people do it once or twice, just to do it?

Does anyone create any type of ice map every year of the lake depicting thicknesses? We've owned our place on Sleeper for 3 years now and haven't ventured out in the winter, but I really want to. I obviously want to make sure the route I take is more than sufficient for travel by snowshoe. My wife is extremely nervous, so any additional backup information such as data on ice thickness would help my cause.

Thanks

That would be a great idea....I want to do the same, walk out to our place near Pier 19 but wife is freaked out!

There is to much variation in ice thickness around the lake to make such a map. Thickness varies due to temperatures, and currents around the lake.

Avoid going out on the ice near docks with bubblers, carry a cordless drill with a 1 in long shank drill to check ice thickness (check often), wear snowshoes on snow or microspikes on ice, and carry ice spikes to help pull yourself out if you should fall in. Let folks know your travel plans (when you're leaving and expect to return along with your route). Use care walking between islands.

Don't forget to carry liquid hydration and food, just like you would on a summer hike.

Above all, be safe and have a ball.

Dave

__________________I Live Here... I am always UPTHESAUKEE !!!!

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As a "general rule" once the ice is set and has established a thickness of 12" or so you're likely going to be OK provided you're not the first person making tracks.... always like to let somebody else be "that guy".

Other areas to avoid... narrow pinch points between islands such as hole in the wall which does ice over but is NEVER safe - that can be misleading if snow covered. Any spot where there is an inflow or bridge crossing such as under the Long Island Bridge the inflows in Alton Bay under Rt 11 or the inflow from Mills Falls under Rt 3 in Meredith and the Weirs Beach channel just to name a few!

With snow coming and people starting to venture out on the lake it becomes clear what areas people are staying away from and for good reason. If you stay on well travelled routes you should be fine especially if you head out in the middle of the winter. Early and late in the ice season is where a lot of mistakes end up being made. Never hurts to stop and ask anyone ice fishing how thick the ice is as well, most fisherman are happy to tell you - and maybe a few whoppers about the big one that got away!

That would be a great idea....I want to do the same, walk out to our place near Pier 19 but wife is freaked out!

We've been making winter trips out to Whortleberry Island from 19 Mile Bay for close to 50 years now. The ice fishermen usually have a plowed road that goes out to Farm and Chase Islands and beyond. I feel pretty pretty safe walking or snowmobiling on a road that trucks are driving on.

Rode my sled from Sheps to Mink Island today checking the ice as I went. A number of pressure ridges in this area. The first is near the ramp at the far end of sheps. I went around it. There is another at cattle landing. There are a few flat spots to cross there. Nothing was wet. There is a third one east of Mink that I haven’t looked at yet. Bottom line is I found 7-9+ inches everywhere with some snow ice on top of that.

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Now that it’s buried in the snow, you might miss this one. If was quite wet yesterday and fairly wide. A lot of ice had sagged below the surface. A couple of 4-wheelers thought better of trying to cross it and found a way around towards Jolly. I’m sure if you’re cruising along on sleds, there’s nothing to worry about and another week of mostly cold weather will lock it in again. But I’d be careful even Derby Weekend driving a truck through there.

As a "general rule" once the ice is set and has established a thickness of 12" or so you're likely going to be OK provided you're not the first person making tracks.... always like to let somebody else be "that guy". Other areas to avoid... narrow pinch points between islands such as hole in the wall which does ice over but is NEVER safe - that can be misleading if snow covered. Any spot where there is an inflow or bridge crossing such as under the Long Island Bridge the inflows in Alton Bay under Rt 11 or the inflow from Mills Falls under Rt 3 in Meredith and the Weirs Beach channel just to name a few! With snow coming and people starting to venture out on the lake it becomes clear what areas people are staying away from and for good reason. If you stay on well travelled routes you should be fine especially if you head out in the middle of the winter. Early and late in the ice season is where a lot of mistakes end up being made. Never hurts to stop and ask anyone ice fishing how thick the ice is as well, most fisherman are happy to tell you - and maybe a few whoppers about the big one that got away!

'Vermont State Police adds two air boats to their arsenal' ...... google that to see the videos or ... https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Ve...505429451.html ... interesting, the incredibly high, loud, noise of the airboat engine has been removed ..... another appropriate name for an airboat is a lake shaker ..... combining the engine noise and beat'n down on the ice like a moving thundering drum .... is a real lake shaker-upper ... with all that loud noise!

For use in ice and thin ice, open water rescues, the VSP has recently received two 20' air boats, reported to cost $75,000 each, using federal grant money. Just looking at this boat in the video, $75,000 seems like way, way, too high a price for what it is .... looks like $20,000 .... maybe $25,000 tops for a 20' jon boat modified into an airboat like this .... is too much price!

Do you think the NH Marine Patrol could actually need one to be kept at their Glendale dock for use on the big lake ice?

Nah ...... no way ...... all you need to stay relatively safe out on the ice is a home made foam noodle belt worn under your coat, and a couple large nails/spikes attached to an old, sturdy shoelace, threaded down your sleeves, used as ice rescue picks, and you are much more safe out on the ice than having a $75,000 air boat and driver that most likely would not get to you in time. Is one more big expensive rescue boat that would just get there too late.

You know a foam noodle belt has as much foam flotation as a pfd, and is less bulky to be wearing because it fits snug around your waist. And, the noodle belt holds you about six inches higher up in the water, which helps a lot while struggling to climb and kick yourself out of the water, and up, onto the ice sheet (only to have it break again?).

Your personal ice safety is up to yourself, because you be frozen drowned dead before any help got to you. Drowning in icy cold water can happen fast, like in 90-seconds of coughing, choking, panicked chaos.

Here in New Hampshire, the ice-goers have to take care of themselves because they know a police ice boat will simply not get to you soon enough to help ..... help ...... what help ..... you need to help yourself ...... out on the ice.

And besides, ice boats like this are unbelievably very noisy, disturbing the quiet winter solitude and serenity, and can break up the ice as they power across the water/ice which creates some open water, safety issues for snowmobiles. And, as you may not know, there's no speed limit for snowmobiles out on the NH lake ice.

https://www.emsworld.com/news/107067...rescue-lawsuit ..... on August 22, 2006: 64-year old Virginia Yates of Rockingham Vermont, with just an injured ankle ended up drowned dead, here in New Hampshire, while transported by the local fire dept in an airboat rescue across the Connecticut River from Vermont to New Hampshire .... she would have been better off with a foam noodle belt, slowly swimming to shore, and then hitch-hiking to a hospital, or just to back home in Vermont .... plus there's no ambulance or emergency room bills to pay .....

So's ..... this 2006 airboat rescue from NH done drowned a perfectly healthy woman from Vt, who had an injured ankle, like a sprained ankle or something, while transporting her across the river to NH ...... like, what was they think'n ...... just say'n?

'Vermont State Police adds two air boats to their arsenal' ...... google that to see the videos or ... https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Ve...505429451.html ... interesting, the incredibly high, loud, noise of the airboat engine has been removed ..... another appropriate name for an airboat is a lake shaker ..... combining the engine noise and beat'n down on the ice like a moving thundering drum .... is a real lake shaker-upper ... with all that loud noise!

For use in ice and thin ice, open water rescues, the VSP has recently received two 20' air boats, reported to cost $75,000 each, using federal grant money. Just looking at this boat in the video, $75,000 seems like way, way, too high a price for what it is .... looks like $20,000 .... maybe $25,000 tops for a 20' jon boat modified into an airboat like this .... is too much price!

Do you think the NH Marine Patrol could actually need one to be kept at their Glendale dock for use on the big lake ice?

Nah ...... no way ...... all you need to stay relatively safe out on the ice is a home made foam noodle belt worn under your coat, and a couple large nails/spikes attached to an old, sturdy shoelace, threaded down your sleeves, used as ice rescue picks, and you are much more safe out on the ice than having a $75,000 air boat and driver that most likely would not get to you in time. Is one more big expensive rescue boat that would just get there too late.

You know a foam noodle belt has as much foam flotation as a pfd, and is less bulky to be wearing because it fits snug around your waist. And, the noodle belt holds you about six inches higher up in the water, which helps a lot while struggling to climb and kick yourself out of the water, and up, onto the ice sheet (only to have it break again?).

Your personal ice safety is up to yourself, because you be frozen drowned dead before any help got to you. Drowning in icy cold water can happen fast, like in 90-seconds of coughing, choking, panicked chaos.

Here in New Hampshire, the ice-goers have to take care of themselves because they know a police ice boat will simply not get to you soon enough to help ..... help ...... what help ..... you need to help yourself ...... out on the ice.

And besides, ice boats like this are unbelievably very noisy, disturbing the quiet winter solitude and serenity, and can break up the ice as they power across the water/ice which creates some open water, safety issues for snowmobiles. And, as you may not know, there's no speed limit for snowmobiles out on the NH lake ice.

https://www.emsworld.com/news/107067...rescue-lawsuit ..... on August 22, 2006: 64-year old Virginia Yates of Rockingham Vermont, with just an injured ankle ended up drowned dead, here in New Hampshire, while transported by the local fire dept in an airboat rescue across the Connecticut River from Vermont to New Hampshire .... she would have been better off with a foam noodle belt, slowly swimming to shore, and then hitch-hiking to a hospital, or just to back home in Vermont .... plus there's no ambulance or emergency room bills to pay .....

So's ..... this 2006 airboat rescue from NH done drowned a perfectly healthy woman from Vt, who had an injured ankle, like a sprained ankle or something, while transporting her across the river to NH ...... like, what was they think'n ...... just say'n?

Bad choice on the part of Vermont to going with that style boat for rescue. A 1000 Islands is considerably safer and much faster. While an 18' is about $100k instead of the $75k they spent, they are completely different machines. Having one of these on Lake Winnipesaukee in a centralized location would be a game changer for rescue situations.

The relatives of Mark O'Connell, one of the three people that died two years ago after their snowmobile went through the ice, formed a foundation to improve safety on Lake Winnipesaukee. A hovercraft was just donated by the foundation to the Moultonboro Fire Department. They have been conducting training trials over the past week and it appears to be working well. Fast, stable and a lot less noisy than I expected. A great asset for the area.

ALTON — The re¬cent donation of an air boat from a Rattle¬snake Island philan¬thropist will boost the town’s - and that of the whole region’s - capaci¬ty to help first respond¬ers ensure the safety of folks on Winnipesau¬kee prior to ice out.

The boat is an Alu¬mitech flat-bottom model with a polymer base. It was secured by the Alton Firemen, Inc., the non-profit arm of the AFD. It was out¬fitted with $18k worth of upgrades, donated by private individuals. The asset, therefore, comes to Alton with no hard costs or implica¬tions for taxpayers."

Oh yeah ..... the article in the Feb 7, 2019 Alton Baysider has two photos (page 5) of their new Alton ice rescue air-boat ..... it looks like maybe a 16-18' (?) aluminum jon-boat with a large caged wind propeller ...... and a seat for the driver only..... so probably others on-board will either be standing up, or sitting on the down low, center thwart bench, while underway.

This boat is probably similar to the one used in the fatal Cornish NH-Rescue Squad water rescue in August 2006, which was said to be a 15' air-boat, where a 64-year old Vermont woman with a sprained ankle was strapped into a Stokes litter, placed in the bow, only to get drowned, when the boat took on water or something in the Connecticut River, while they transported her from Vermont to New Hampshire, across the river. She should have maybe stayed in Vermont?

Now, an 18' air-boat is probably, actually ...... a lot bigger than a 15' air-boat but there's a lesson here; be very wary about letting the rescuers strap you into a carry litter in a situation like a winter ice, water rescue with a small rescue boat. If you end up in the water while strapped into a Stokes, you will know exactly how a drowning grey squirrel in a Have-a-heart trap feels when dropped into the lake ..... it's like 30 seconds of panicked, under water chaos for the squirrel.

Ya knows .... for about 37-cents each, you can go buy two large nails/small spikes and rig up a set of ice self-rescue hand picks, using an old shoelace, that gets threaded down both sleeves, along your arms ...... hanging near your hands ..... ready to use. And .... of course ..... a home made, foam noodle flotation belt, worn under a coat, around the waist, which holds you higher up in the water than a pfd ...... not that a pfd is bad ..... a pfd is very good ..... but for climbing up and onto the ice ..... a foam noodle maybe makes it a little easier to climb onto the ice sheet.

By the time that new Alton air-boat gets out there to you, you will either be noodle supported, floating in the icy cold water, or already have kicked and ice-picked yourself up, onto the ice, be freez'n cold and wet, and be very happy to see and hear the extremely loud air-boat coming for you. Just try to avoid gett'n strapped into a Stokes' litter for the ride back to shore .... if possible.

An individual can expect to survive 75-minutes, floating in 34-degree water, with a pfd or foam noodle, while your hands, feet, arms and legs will freeze up, making them unable to use till thawed out, later on. Just keep your mouth shut when you first hit the water.

The relatives of Mark O'Connell, one of the three people that died two years ago after their snowmobile went through the ice, formed a foundation to improve safety on Lake Winnipesaukee. A hovercraft was just donated by the foundation to the Moultonboro Fire Department. They have been conducting training trials over the past week and it appears to be working well. Fast, stable and a lot less noisy than I expected. A great asset for the area.

Today's LaDaSun has an article on this new orange colored Moultonborough Fire Dept air boat. Who knows but just maybe this company in Ontario https://airriderhovercraft.com has figured out a way to make it less noisy?

Riding over a cushion of air between the boat and the ice must be a lot different than the jon boat style of air boat which gets powered over the ice on a flat aluminum bottom.

If Moultonborough can have an air boat then Wolfeboro simply must go get a six million dollar helicopter just like the Coast Guard's plus a new hanger, maintenance, and flight crew ..... the Wolfeboro air rescue team!

..... noodles to the rescue ..... think I'll just use my five dollar noodle belt and one dollar, two big nails and shoelace ice grippers, and go save myself!

Instead of continuously posting about the value of noodles why don't you go down to the Meredith Fire Department and give them your phone number. They can call you for the next ice rescue and you will have an opportunity to demonstrate how well your system works.

Instead of continuously posting about the value of noodles why don't you go down to the Meredith Fire Department and give them your phone number. They can call you for the next ice rescue and you will have an opportunity to demonstrate how well your system works.

Better yet volunteer tomorrow at the Center Harbor Ice Fest for the water rescue. I'm sure they would waive any Center Harbor residency requirements for you to participate.

Instead of continuously posting about the value of noodles why don't you go down to the Meredith Fire Department and give them your phone number. They can call you for the next ice rescue and you will have an opportunity to demonstrate how well your system works.

...... so easy and inexpensive to make and use; holds you higher up in the water than a pfd, same buoyancy as a pfd ....... even a neanderthal could do it!

When I'm 109, expect to see me out there ice fishing with my ambulatory care walker, complete with foam noodles taped to it, all over, and tennis balls on the leg feet for gripping the ice ...... winning the Winni Fishing Derby-2061 ...